Gadget's U.s. Launch Hits Local Stores

Taking First Bite Of Apple's Iphone

June 30, 2007|By Cynthia H. Cho, ccho@dailypress.com |247-4744, It was about two months ago that a friend told Jon Faulkner about Apple Inc.'s iPhone. The device is going to be revolutionary, the friend had said.

Faulkner, a 19-year-old training for the Coast Guard, did his own research -- watching commercials on YouTube and demonstrations on Apple's Web site -- and reached the same conclusion.

And so on Friday evening, he was the first of 50 people in line at the AT&T store on Jefferson Avenue in Newport News to buy one. He arrived at 2 p.m. and spent the afternoon watching "Casino Royale" on his laptop and listening to his iPod.

At the Apple Inc. store at MacArthur Center in Norfolk, Dilip K. Sarkar was in the No. 1 spot. He arrived at 6:45 a.m. to buy two iPhones, one for himself and one for his son as a belated birthday present. For the 57-year-old retired medical professor, it was the first time he had ever waited in line for anything.

"I feel like the first kid in the candy store," he said Friday afternoon.

The iPhone went on sale at 6 p.m. Friday local time throughout the country at Apple and AT&T stores. It also became available online at 9 p.m. and comes in two models: a 4-gigabyte unit for $499 and an 8-gigabyte unit for $599. It is only offered through AT&T. The three rate plans are priced at $59.99 for 450 free minutes, $79.99 for 900 minutes and $99.99 for 1,350 minutes.

It was a big day for Apple fanatics.

For six months, there had been growing hype about the iPhone. Most of the people waiting in line at the AT&T store in Newport News and at the Apple store in Norfolk raved about the iPhone's Web-browsing capabilities and sleek design -- even though no one had seen anything except images of the product. For some, the brand itself was enough.

"It's Apple," said Lisa Dicrisi, a self-described "e-mail-aholic," when asked why she wanted the iPhone.

She and her husband, Dan, each bought one at the AT&T store in Newport News, where more than 30 were sold in the first hour.

Fifteen-year-old Ryan Dicrisi who accompanied his parents said he planned to save up his money earned from doing chores to eventually buy one.

It didn't seem to matter to some people that they would have to switch wireless companies -- which would mean paying to break their wireless contracts. Sarkar, for example, was ready to cast aside his Verizon-powered Palm Treo. His son would also have to make the jump from T-Mobile to AT&T.

For many, the iPhone would be their first "smart phone." That was the case for friends Jason Lefton, Matt Davidson and Lyle Edwards who were the third, fifth and sixth in line at the Apple store in Norfolk (Lefton's dad was fourth). They all arrived between 7:45 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. Friday.

Lefton and Edwards were planning to buy one iPhone each. Davidson was planning to buy two and give one to his fiancee as a surprise present. It was a long day for the twentysomethings, who spent most of the day playing poker on a camping table and chairs. Davidson had even brought along another friend, Bobby Harrell, who would save a spot if someone in the group had to go to the restroom or get something to eat.

Some passersby didn't seem to think all the fuss was worth it.

Marian McDonald, a 50-year-old Suffolk resident, who was shopping at the Pottery Barn across from the Apple store at MacArthur Center said, "I hope I don't want anything that badly that it would interfere with my daily life. I would rather have a nice lunch with a friend."

So why go through all the trouble at all?

"I just want to be one of the first to have it," Davidson said.

Faulkner, the first in line at the AT&T store in Newport News, said, "You only live once. The iPhone is incredible." *

Do you want to buy one?

Apple's iPhone went on sale at 6 p.m. Friday at Apple stores and at AT&T stores. The phones also became available online at 9 p.m. Friday.